Hartford Fire to Residents:Keep Driveways Clear This Winter

Hartford — The Hartford Fire Department is reminding residents to maintain their driveways during the winter season to avoid impacting response times in the event of an emergency.

The reminder came after the department experienced trouble responding to a Sunday evening fire on Wallace Road.

Upon arrival, fire fighters were met with a quarter-mile driveway that was “nearly impassable from ice,” Fire Chief Scott Cooney said in a news release on Monday.

“Sand trucks were requested to make the driveway passable for emergency vehicles,” Cooney said. “As a safety recommendation, the fire department would like to remind residents of the importance of maintaining driveways.”

No one was home at the time of the fire, and no one was injured. The scene was quickly brought under control.

The home, which was a seasonal home, had a fire alarm system that notified the alarm company of the fire, who in turn notified the fire department.

If they only had standard smoke detectors installed, “we most likely would not have located the fire until it was totally involved,” Cooney said.

The home is habitual except for the bedroom, where the fire started.

Preliminary investigation shows the fire started because a bed was too close to an electric baseboard heater.

Man Charged with Second-Degree Murder in November Homicide

Wentworth, n.h. — The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said a man has been charged with second-degree murder in last month’s death of a 60-year-old man in Wentworth.

Thomas Corliss was arrested on Monday in the Nov. 23 death of Todd Downing.

Attorney General Joseph Foster said Downing was found injured at his home in Wentworth. He was treated at the scene and later died at a hospital.

An autopsy showed the cause of death to be blunt impact injuries and that his manner of death was homicide.

The 30-year-old Corliss was being arraigned on Monday in Plymouth, N.H. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney.

New Hampshire Woman Among First Marine Combat Recruits

Dover, n.h. — A New Hampshire high school graduate is among the first female recruits training in South Carolina to become a U.S. Marine Corps combat soldier.

Foster’s Daily Democrat reported Katelen (Kiki) Van Aken received her diploma from Dover High School in June.

Van Aken says she jumped at the chance to join the infantry after a rule change last year allowed women to serve in the military in any capacity.

She’s one of a small number of female recruits sent to recruit training with contracts to become infantry Marines.

She says infantry is the first line of defense where she can be “out at the front making the difference.”

— Staff and wire reports